Church of Light- Tadao Ando

Church of the light is the Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church's main chapel. It was built in 1989, in the city of Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture. This building is one of the most famous designs of Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

In 1999, the main building was extended with the addition of a Sunday School.
"In all my works, light is an important controlling factor," says Ando. "I create enclosed spaces mainly by means of thick concrete walls. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual, a zone for oneself within society. When the external factors of a city's environment require the wall to be without openings, the interior must be especially full and satisfying." And further on the subject of walls, Ando writes, "At times walls manifest a power that borders on the violent. They have the power to divide space, transfigure place, and create new domains. Walls are the most basic elements of architecture, but they can also be the most enriching."

The density of the concrete results in a glass-like surface that registers the different qualities of light, and tends to dematerialize it. Because Ando's concrete is so precisely wrought, so smooth and reflective, it produces an illusion of a taut, textile surface rather than presenting it as a heavy earthbound mass. Ando has his own teams of expert carpenters to make the formwork who compete against each other; even so, his walls contain imperfections and are uneven." ("Church on the Water, Church of the Light" by Tadao Ando and Philip Drew)

Resources:
http://www.archidose.org/books/light.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Light
http://atelier29.blogspot.com/2009/03/church-of-light-by-tadao-ando-simple.html